​The fresh mountain air blew through her hair relieving some of the summer heat. The sun beat down on her skin as she leaned over the cabin front deck railing.​What a beautiful day? Perfect, just perfect.

She watched two men walk up the narrow path through the mountain sage swaying in the wind. In slow motion, her husband and his companion dropped their towels on the sandy shore and waded into the chilly mountain lake. She could only imagine the shock of the cold water. Something was wrong. She left her perch to run after them, yelling to not go into the water; but they weren’t listening. Her skin erupted in goose bumps, and bile rose in the back of her throat. No. Don’t go in.

She watched helplessly from the shore as the love of her life swam to the middle of the lake. The smile on his face broadened, and his loud, infectious laugh filled the air. Suddenly, a hand burst through the water surface dragging him under. Bubbles escaped his mouth as he gasped for air under the surface of the water. He could see a beam of sunlight. He struggled to reach for it. The arms wrapped tighter around him. Or was it her? Beth couldn’t breathe; her lungs filling with water. The faceless body held her under the water so she couldn’t escape.

​She needed to breathe. Let me go. Let me go. I can’t breathe.

The reality of where she was hit her hard as she awoke in her car in Carolina, the car in front of her new house without him.

Writing depends of my muse sticking around for hours. To keep the mood going I have a playlist that is about 12 hours long. Here is a small sampling of the best of the Indian Summer of 2014. The Drenched Sunflowers playlist on Spotify.